


The Obligatory Diner AU

by tablemanners



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Blushing, Embarrassment, F/M, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, Minor James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Modern Era, One Shot, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, diner au, jily in the background, no magic, remus is a server, soft, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 07:13:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19825141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tablemanners/pseuds/tablemanners
Summary: Remus is a waiter and he can’t tell if the handsome man with the long dark hair and defined cheekbones is flirting with him or not





	The Obligatory Diner AU

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written Wolfstar in quite a while but I got the idea for this AU when I was sketching and I just had to write it. Enjoy!

The mid-afternoon humidity seeped into the diner, annoying customers and employees alike. Having set up their last fan, an ancient looking thing that had to be older than the diner, Remus slumped into an empty booth and let out a long sigh. 

Donning a fresh black shirt, Lily joined him in the booth and groaned. Noticing the look Remus was giving her, she explained how her previous shirt was too sweaty and she had to change into her spare. Remus didn’t dare ask why she brought a spare-- he supposed it was good to always be prepared. “Anyway, are we sure there are no more fans in the spare room?” Lily asked indignantly, rubbing sweat off of her forehead. She was the newest member of their team, and Remus currently had the role of training her. She was around his age, trendy, gorgeous and smart. It made him wonder why she was working part time in this dump. Despite having her thick red hair pulled up in a tight bun and her sleeves rolled up, she was still red in the face and sweating. He could only imagine how hot it was having such a ridiculous amount of hair on one’s head. He liked to keep his short, but anything too short made his natural waves look silly. Any attempt to tame one’s hair in this humidity was in vain, however. Remus was sure he looked just as disheveled as Lily, if not more. His honey-colored hair was probably a shade darker from his sweat, but at least their work uniforms were black so he didn’t have to worry about sweat showing too horribly. 

“Do you honestly think I’d be sitting here sweating if I thought we had more fans?” Remus huffed out, slinking further down into the seat. “And just so you know, I’ve already tried everything. There’s no breeze outside. Opening windows would only make it worse. The AC won’t adjust  _ at all _ . At least we’re not busy. We don’t need any more body heat in this place.” They only had one customer, a little old lady that came in every week for afternoon tea. 

As if on cue, the front door creaked open and a bell chimed to alert them. “Wow, thanks for jinxing us Remus,” Lily groaned, peeling herself off of the booth. “At least all I have to do is follow you around.”

“Shut up,” he hissed, “You’re supposed to be learning from me.”

Lily scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, whatever.” 

Two men stood behind the host podium, bickering rather loudly for how quiet the restaurant was at 3pm on a Thursday. It sounded like they were arguing about the heat. “Welcome, table for two?” Remus asked politely, plastering what he hoped was a believable smile on his face. 

Remus nearly jumped when the men turned to face them. He hadn’t expected them to be so attractive… well, specifically the guy with the long dark hair. He didn’t want to ogle his customers, but this man was something else. He was the closest thing to perfect remus had ever seen-- piercing grey eyes, spectacular bone structure, lustrous raven hair, and a toned body-- not that he was looking. He suddenly felt more self conscious of every blemish, freckle and scar on his flushed and sweaty face. Nevertheless, Remus quickly regained his composure. It wasn’t as though he’d never waited on an attractive person before. Remus was a professional, after all. 

“Man, what’s up with the heat?” The hot guy asked, running his hand through his hair. “Are you all cooking  _ us _ ?” After a beat of silence, he laughed at his own joke, smiling childishly. 

“Yep, just two,” the other man answered, ignoring his friend. Remus skimmed over him-- choppy black hair, a square jaw and trendy glasses-- he was good looking, but not the kind of good looking that made Remus forget how to speak. Even if said good looking person made questionable jokes. 

“Would you all prefer a table or booth?” He asked them, purposely avoiding eye contact with the handsome man. He could feel those silver eyes watching him and it made him uneasy. 

“Hmm, whatd’ya think Sirius? Table or booth?”

The handsome man-- Sirius, apparently-- thought it over thoroughly, grunting in exertion. “That’s a tough one James. I’m gonna have to go with… booth.” He smiled at Remus playfully, although Remus couldn’t piece together why. 

Lily grabbed the menus and silverware, letting Remus lead the way to one of the many empty booths. “Thanks Lily,” he murmured under his breath, accepting the menus and placing them on the table. Remus felt Sirius brush up against him to scoot into the booth. He flinched, feeling his face heat up and his jittery heartbeat speed up. Was he seriously getting worked up over minimal physical contact? 

“I’m Remus and I’ll be your server this afternoon. This is Lily, she’ll be shadowing me today. Can we get you all started with some drinks?” Remus prided himself in the fact that his voice only wavered once. He still wouldn’t make eye contact with Sirius. 

The other man-- Jack? James?-- spoke up first. “Water, please.” 

“Likewise,” Sirius added, still staring intently at Remus. He tried not to shudder. 

“Okay, we’ll have those waters out to you in a minute,” he said, smiling at both of them before he turned around and rushed to the kitchen. Lily followed close behind. 

“Is it just me or is the guy with the long hair staring at you?” Lily asked cheekily, raising her eyebrows. Remus glared at her, gripping the two glasses worryingly hard. “Ah, so it wasn’t just me.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Remus spat, shoveling ice into the cups. “He was looking at me because I was talking to him.” 

Lily rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay, sure. Or maybe-- hear me out Remus!” Remus had already walked off mid conversation to fill up the glasses and was now headed back out to drop the waters off. “Remus,” she whisper-yelled, waving at him obnoxiously. 

“You’re supposed to be shadowing me, not pestering me,” he said, smirking at Lily’s frown. She huffed, crossing her arms, and thankfully relented. 

Back at the booth, the two men were reading over the menus and chatting. They seemed to have gotten over the issue of the heat, how they did so Remus knew not. Sirius paused when he spotted Remus walking their way, two water glasses in hand, and smiled at him as Remus got closer. He pretended not to notice.

Remus placed the waters on the table like he would with any other customer, not at all affected by the man’s soft grins. “Have you all had enough time to look over the menus?” He asked, sticking to his script. The two men nodded, and both Remus and Lily got out their notebooks. 

“I’ll have a #3 please, no onions,” 

“And I’ll have a #7, thanks Remus,” Sirius purred, grinning softly at Remus. 

He paused, surprised by the use of his name. After clearing his throat, he confirmed their order. “A number three no onions and a number seven?” Remus asked, receiving nods from both men. “Ok, Lily if you could pick up those menus for me that’d be great.” 

Lily grabbed both of the menus, yanking them off of the table and disturbing Sirius’ glass of water in the process. Remus processed what was happening a second too late and watched helplessly as the full glass of ice water toppled onto Sirius’ lap, then onto the ground with a loud shatter. Lily simply stared in disbelief, completely caught off guard and eyes wide as saucers. “I am  _ so _ sorry, sir,” Remus gasped, nudging Lily out of the way with urgency. Sirius’ lower half was drenched and his face was scrunched up in discomfort. Remus grabbed some napkins from his apron and began to lay them out on the table. “Lily, could you please go get some dish towels and a broom?” He asked, panicked. Lily snapped out of her shock and scurried away, flushed tomato red. 

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated, moving to soak up some of the water on the mans pants with the remaining towels. He continued to wipe up the water from Sirius in his panic, his heart pounding in his ears. Everything was happening in a blur, and Remus still couldn’t believe Lily spilled ice water on this poor man’s lap. Suddenly realization hit him like a smack in the face-- she spilled water on his  _ lap _ , his  _ privates _ . In his attempt to clean the man up, he had been groping Sirius’  _ crotch _ . He lifted his head to look at Sirius, who was watching him with a surprised but amused gleam in his eyes, and immediately recoiled as though he had been scorched by a flame. “I’m sorry sir,” he repeated for a third time, voice quaking. “I’ll let you handle that.” 

Lily returned with a broom and a towel looking slightly more put together. “Here’s a towel Remus,” she said, unaware of what had just transpired between him and Sirius. She swept up the glass shards quickly before anyone could get hurt, a determined look on her face. “Sorry about that y’all, I’m new,” she said sweetly, smiling at James.  _ Way to state the obvious _ , Remus thought begrudgingly, bending down to wipe up the rest of the water.  _ You wouldn’t be shadowing me if you weren’t new.  _ At least where he was now, underneath the towel wiping up the spill, he didn’t have to worry about controlling the emotions crossing his face. The embarrassment of touching Sirius inappropriately would surely haunt him for years to come. The spill now taken care of, Remus shimmied out from underneath the table. Sirius jerked his head away from Remus’ ass and towards James, but not fast enough for Remus to miss his gaze. Already on emotional overload, Remus simply apologized once more and hurried back to the kitchen. He couldn’t process the implications of Sirius possibly checking him out. 

Lily was waiting for him in the kitchen, chatting with the cook about the events that had just transpired. When she spotted Remus, she tensed up. “Remus, I am so sorry about that. I don’t know what happened, they didn’t ask for a manager or anything did they?” 

He shouldn’t be this stressed during their least busy time of the day. They had like, a total of 3 customers? And yet here they were worked up over a glass of water. “They didn’t seem mad, thank goodness, even after I accidentally felt Sirius up.” 

“Okay, that’s goo-- wait, did you just say you felt Sirius up?!” 

Remus covered his face with his hands, indescribably embarrassed. “Lily, it was so unprofessional. I tried to wipe down his jeans and ended up putting my hands all over his crotch before I even realized what I was doing!” 

“But he wasn’t mad right?” 

“No, he looked like he was about to start laughing at me.” 

Lily held back a smirk. “Remus, you really are an idiot sometimes. Let's just offer them a free dessert, we can do that, right?”

Remus peeked out from behind his hands. “I mean, I guess so.” 

The cook, sympathetic to their plight, made sure to make the meals extra good, extra fast. Remus didn’t know what he would do without their kindness. “Lily, if you spill any food on them I am going to murder you,” he warned, pushing through the double doors and headed back towards their booth. 

“I’m not going to spill anything,” she huffed, the water pitcher in hand as she trailed behind him. 

Sirius looked mostly dry when they reached the table. James was laughing obnoxiously about something Sirius must have said, but sobered up when he saw Lily. It was rather comical seeing the blush spread across his face as he sat up straight and tried not to look too excited to see her. Sirius didn’t do anything to tone down his obnoxiousness-- if anything, he became a tad more obnoxious. “Life sure is hard for two single blokes, eh, James?” He asked, ignoring Remus and Lily walking right up to their table. “Especially tough for me, seeing as I like men and all, as you know.” 

“Did you hear that?” Lily whispered from behind Remus. Of course he heard it, everyone in the restaurant probably heard it. James was staring at Sirius with a confused look on his face, eyebrows furrowed and mouth hanging open as if to ask ‘what the fuck, mate?’. Then he noticed Remus and Lily. His features smoothed out and his mouth formed an ‘o’ shape, understanding Sirius’ cunning intentions. 

Remus cleared his throat, gaining their attention as he sat their meals down in front of them. “I just wanted to let you know dessert is on the house, we’d like to apologize once more for the inconvenience.” 

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it, it was a refreshing change to cool off,” Sirius joked, smiling at him. His kindness was making Remus’ heart flutter. 

“We’ll still take the free dessert, of course,” James added. 

“Yes, of course. Enjoy your meal.”

\-------

“So, are you going to ask him on a date?” Lily asked after they had seated another party. She was watching him with an intensity he hadn’t seen before, green eyes peeled open and excitement written clearly on her face. 

“Who, Sirius?”

“Well duh. Are you?”

Remus shook his head, frowning. “Why would I do that? Besides, that would be very unprofessional.”

Lily laughed, head thrown back and care tossed aside. “Remus, you keep saying unprofessional like you’re a lawyer or something. You’re a server paid at minimum wage, you shouldn’t have to worry about being professional.” 

Remus grunted. “Well, nevertheless, I’m not going to do anything stupid like ask him out.” 

“Why? Are you scared?” 

He paused, trying to read Lily’s intentions. Did she think egging him on and calling him a coward would make him ask for Sirius’ number? “As a matter of fact, I’m terrified, thanks. Feel free to ask James out.”

Lily bolted upright in an instant, looking scandalized. “What?” She asked in feigned innocence. 

“Just shut up and finish washing those dishes.”

\-------

Remus was making his rounds throughout the restaurant, filling up glasses and such, when he heard someone call his name. “Hello sir, do you need something?” He asked, plastering on his go-to smile only to turn and see Sirius behind him. He looked caught off guard even though he had been the one to call out to Remus, hands shoved awkwardly in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

“Uh, yeah, um… I was just wondering if you, uh--” He was at a loss for words. Remus frowned, confused by the other man’s lack of composure. A faint blush spread over Sirius’ pale, unblemished skin, his posture hunched and unsure. “Where’s the bathroom?” 

Remus raised his eyebrows, glancing back and forth between Sirius and the door to his right clearly labeled ‘restroom’. “Are you serious?” He asked, exasperated. He gestured towards the door, close enough to almost touch it. 

Sirius cracked a grin at that, and Remus was mortified as he realized what he had just asked. “Why yes, I am Sirius,” the man joked, prodding at Remus. “Haha, um, thanks,” Sirius said before quickly ducking into the restroom, leaving Remus puzzled. He shrugged and returned to his duties, ignoring the quickened pace of his heart. 

\-------

Everything else went smoothly enough. They ordered their dessert, Remus and Lily cleared away the old dishes with no problems and brought dessert out in a timely fashion. Remus had been so preoccupied with Sirius he had actually forgotten how humid it was in their little diner. The fans did seem to be helping.

“Well,” Lily began, walking up beside Remus, “do you want to take their bill to them or should I?”

Remus startled, turning to face her. They’d take them the bill, they’d pay, and then he’d most likely never see Sirius again. It wasn’t as if they had some soul-mate connection, there was no reason to feel sad about them leaving. He wasn’t even sure if Sirius was actually interested in him. The whole ordeal had simply just been too stressful on Remus’ poor heart. “I’ll take it out to them,” he declared, accepting the bill from her and glancing at his reflection in the glass momentarily. His hair did seem a bit out of place, and if he happened to pause to adjust it, so what? That was normal behavior. 

Sirius was smiling at him again when he reached their table. Remus didn’t get flustered this time. He prided himself in being efficient, as well as professional, no matter how silly Lily thought he was. He showed Lily how to ring up their cards then returned with their receipts for them to sign. No long waits, no inconveniences. 

Everything was perfectly fine until he picked up the receipts. Sirius and James had gotten up from their table, but Sirius was watching Remus hopefully. Remus skimmed the note scrawled at the bottom of the receipt-- it was Sirius’ phone number, along with the words ‘ur cute’ and a winky face. His head darted up as he made eye contact with Sirius. His stomach flipped, and Remus tried to say something to Sirius but his mouth just hung open uselessly as his face flushed beet red. “O-oh,” He finally stammered, feeling stupid. “T-thanks.”

Sirius winked at him, smirking, and disappeared out the door. 

Remus dreaded Lily’s ‘I told you so’. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
